Eternal Melody

SUMIRE

Seeing a mixture of embarrassment and curiosity in Norah's face Sumire sighs.

"I-I guess, he's quite large." Sumire managed to say.

Norah's face reddened. "If it's him, I'm sure you've been doing it very excessively in those creative positions he comes up with."

T-this is so awkward. How on earth is she supposed to respond to that? Creative huh? Sumire thinks back to what happened earlier the day. No, the past three days. She has definitely never experienced anything like that before.

It feels weird now that she has her memories back.

'I betrayed Yuhi.'

When she woke up, she felt a mixture of sadness, fear and pain. She betrayed Yuhi, even if she didn't have her memories. How could she have allowed another man to touch her? Even if that man is- seeing Norah's gaze on her Sumire decided to just tell her.

Norah is quiet for a few minutes. "I see, so the soul bond is still Sora's."

Sumire paused before looking at Norah's expression carefully. "Did you think it would return to-"

"I thought there would be a chance, but the curse is strong. I understood, my soul bond with Len was fading after the curse. It's actually the main reason why I asked him if we could move to the human Kingdoms. I didn't want him to sense the soul bond fading. While in the human Kingdoms, I found one of their sourcers and she gave me potions to extend the bond. If I ever failed to administer the potion for one day, the bond will decline rapidly." Norah paused. "Do you, remember when we got captured?"

Sumire thinks back to the memory she regained not too long ago and nodded. 

"I thankfully made Lex drink a stronger potion before we got captured. But it only lasted so long, and with the shackles I couldn't speak to him. Yet for a while I managed to hear his thoughts. When the others came for us, the soul bond was just a snap away from breaking. So, that night. I asked Elza to take me to the nearest human village. Thankfully the sorcerer there had the ingredients I needed. I kept this up for our next lifetime. So, on the sixth. When I couldn't feel the bond anymore, I was terrified. I tried to look for him desperately, there was a time limit from the potion I gave him in our fifth life to the sixth." Norah laughed weakly. "I suppose it was already useless then."

"Do you not love-"

Norah shakes her head. "I love Sora too, so very much. When we first accepted his hand when we were Nanaka. We also felt like we were betraying Lex. I do understand what you're going through. But you don't have to be ashamed. The love we have for Sora, and the one we have for Lex is something we can't compare." She trailed off. "When Lex held you, I am sure he was thinking the same."

Sumire sighs deeply. "If you put it like that, I guess it lessens the guilt. I just don't know how I am going to bring this up to Yuhi-san."

Norah giggled and winked. "If you seduce him, I'm sure he will forgive you in an instant."

True, seduction always works on Yuhi-san. But, they need to have a serious conversation. So, maybe she ought to take another approach. Sumire looks at Norah. It certainly is unusual to see her here. Usually only the most recent reincarnated form can enter this space.

"I think I understand why you're here. Lucifer knocked me out, and returned my memories to me. But, I ended up here with you instead." Sumire trailed off. "Maybe you should come out first and spend time with him."

Norah blinked startled. "I-I couldn't possibly-"

"But, you want to see him right? You haven't seen him in two centuries." Sumire prodded.

Norah didn't say anything but Sumire could see the expression on her face. She really wants to see him. It's the same expression she makes when she wants to see Yuhi. 

"We should find the guardian, and ask her to make the switch for us."

The guardian she is referring to is the overseer of this realm, a space between worlds. It took her a very long time before she finally came to terms with this. To think she had been slipping in the space between realms since she was a child. To be exact her visits became more frequent when she was in the facility. She supposes it was because she was alone. She was lonely, and needed to go somewhere far away. 

Norah rushed after her. "Wait, wait. Are you sure? You really want to see Sora, don't you?"

"I do, but like something tells me that you should be the one to give birth to this child."

"C-child? Are you pregnant? Is it Lex-"

Sumire nodded and Norah burst into tears again. She takes out a handkerchief from her pocket. "I think you cry even more than I do."

Norah laughs weakly. "It's just, I haven't had a child since the first life."

Right, because of the curse. Seeing Norah's expression now, there is no doubt this is the reason why she was summoned here. She needed to willingly let Norah take over.

Right at that moment a woman with blue coloured hair and silver coloured eyes walked over with a smile. "Well, this is interesting."

Sumire rolled her eyes. "No doubt you knew about this."

Aoi giggled. "I am the guardian, the overseer of all the realms." She turned to Norah and bowed. "It's been a while since I've seen you, it seems no matter what life you end up having you end up wandering in here. I suppose it's the fate of someone with such strong powers."

This odd woman who just appeared is 'Aoi' she is the guardian, the one who oversees all the other worlds. Sumire didn't quite believe her before, but when she stumbled in the room with the doors to the other realms as a child. She recalls Aoi picking her up and saying 'If you cross that line, you will never be able to go back, and you little one. You're also a daughter of stars, so you must walk the correct path in the correct world.'

"H-how is it possible-" Norah still seemed to be very confused.

Indeed, Sumire certainly didn't understand what was going on either. She has never heard of two reincarnated forms meeting each other. 

Aoi winked. "I had to pull some strings. The main reason being-" She looked at Sumire's stomach. "That child."